Alderaan - Love and Intrigue

Seeing as he had some time before the parts came in, and Durasay was off doing...something he'd rather not think about him doing. It was time to go check in on the Thul Estate for Zeno once more. The man who set him on this path of understanding. It was his understanding that his family was under attack during the coup, which is likely why he had spent extra time being examined for anything suspicious or dangerous. Maybe they let him thru with his pistol because Chiss are allied with the Empire? Maybe he hid it well enough that they never noticed. Either way, it was a inconvenience to enter, but a understandable one.

Still, hopefully another topic could be breached today. A distraction of sorts. Maybe. Or could be some sense of concern from the Chiss to ensure the man he met was doing okay. Who could ever tell?

All he could do now is wait around until he was summoned to enter.

The summon never came. Instead Zeno approached from down a long hallway, having received word. "Prirnu'dim'suazzo," he greeted, his pronunciation still not like a native, but the Sith blood had clearly put an effort into learning something of Chiss language since they last spoke.

"It is a surprise to see you, but not an unwelcome one. Would you like refreshments?" There was a light smile with the offer.

He looked at his face for a moment and shook his head. "You forgot to roll the R sound and the first z is silent. Still, it was not terrible attempt for someone who has only just started. Give yourself a few more years and maybe you'll start to pick up at least the basics." He extended his hand to him, as this was seemingly the way everyone liked to greet everyone.

"Tea, if it would not put you out." He nodded. "How is your family? I heard of what happened here, of course."

"Thank you for the tips," he said with a nod. "During my exercise and training I listen to instructional recordings. I've started the basic Chiss language one that is supposed to take around 200 hours to complete, the moderate and advanced ones are significantly longer. I felt like I should be engaging my mind with something challenging."

He accepts the hand in greeting, but does not linger on it.

"Tea it is then," he puts an order into his datapad and then motions for Nudimsu to join him as he begins walking. It was a leisurely pace, but not slow. "My family is doing alright. Ziandra is recovered for the most part, the girls have already been scheduled for visits with psychologists. At their age they really should not have had to see their mother maimed. But the house is safe and locked down. Did you run into any problems during the insurrection?"

"It is a wonderful language that you'll never be capable of fully speaking. Still, if you find yourself stuck on some aspect on it, I will be sure to leave my comm information with you before I leave this planet. You are welcome to keep in touch, should you need some corrections." He followed along in pace. "Found a few explosions and came upon rather complex situation that I'm currently sorting thru, but I came out unharmed. No good stories of my heroics to share on that day, just did what comes naturally to me and kept my head down."

He followed along. "Which is just fine by me, really; heroes seldom survive their own tales. Speaking of which..." He looked at him. "The disgraced hero will live, it seems. I assume that Thul will do their best to make his sentence in confinement a comfortable one?" He spoke without sharing his emotions or intentions, yet again. To the untrained eye, he could have said it seriously.

"It may be difficult to learn, but I am curious if my ability to use the force to augment my speech might make it more likely to speak it better than other non-Chiss. Do you have any experience as a people with force using individuals learning Cheunh?"

It didn't take long for a droid to roll up on its wheels with two cups of tea on a serving tray. Zeno offered one to Nudimsu. There were also a few small things like sweetener, citrus, and spices available on the tray. Zeno put a bit of citrus in his.

"I'm glad to know that you made it out safely. It was a chaotic day and nothing was a given when it came to danger."

His voice was even and gentle. "Bouris is paying for his crimes." It was ambiguous enough with how the common language was spoken, that he either believed he was actually paying for those crimes or potentially would in the future.

"What are your plans with the end of the festival?"

"The Sky-Walkers do, of course, though none would be allowed to leave the Ascendancy borders. The only other Force-user I met a little while back, but I cannot talk much about her, other than how out of practice she was." He nodded and grabbed the drink from the droid, following suit, but adding more spice than sweetness. "Lessons of failure are important among my people, and the importance of one's House and Family. By the time he leaves his chains, I hope that such a lesson is instilled with him." He nodded and sipped his tea, speaking no more on it.

"Surprisingly enough, I am returning to Pantora for a small period before heading off with one of your own. Lana Beniko has hired me to assist her on her vessel for a small period, so I will leave my Turtle for a time while I see to that matter. After that, well, I suppose that is up to the Force."

"I highly doubt she considers me one of her own. I am no longer a member of the Sith order and most of them would likely think me a spy. I've had very little contact in general despite the imperial presence on our grounds," he explained.

"Though I do consider her a fine example of a Sith. Better than I ever was in most regards. I am certain she'll make great use of your talents and treat you fairly. She seems to prefer the pragmatic and severe approach rather than a cruel and aggressive one. I was more the latter."

He nodded his head. "Right, I recall you said that earlier. My apologies. But yes, that is my general impression of her. It's the only reason I would ever consider working with a Sith." Nudimsu said with a nod. That confirmed what he had already expected. "What of you? Though, I suppose you do not have a easy few months ahead of you." He looked at him for a moment. "Though, I did also wish to discuss with you my impression of this festival, if you are still interested in it. I asked around a lot of people about it since our meeting. Many were, surprisingly, open with me about their impressions of this festival and their mating habits. I was rather shocked; I was under the impression that humans became modest over such things. Though, given what you've experienced, I would understand that would not be a concern."

"Me? Planning a vacation. For many in attendance this was a vacation, for those that planned and worked it? It was a very difficult job. My wife was one of those. Between being targeted for assassination and the stress, relaxation is in order. Then, back to political engagements."

He seemed open about this. And then interested.

"I would be grateful to hear your thoughts on the festival. I can make certain Ziandra is made aware too since she was so involved in planning."

"Well deserved rest, I would say. Hopefully it will end up being less stressful for you and your family" He smiled and drank more of his tea. "I must say many of the ceremonies and situations seem rather counter-productive to the intended purpose of the promotion of mating. I'm not entirely sure what flying a animal has to do with mating, for instance. Or getting lost in a maze." He looked at him. "Though, I suppose tradition demands such things and many are unavoidable cultural things , so I will do not look down upon that. Activates where adrenaline is created and maintained would also ensure that the desired results are reached as well. That would include dancing, of course, though that was unavoidably delayed." He did seem rather disappointed about it as he brought it up. "But, more physical activities for the next year would be my recommendation."

Thinking on it more, he sipped his tea, he continued. "Though, the free-flowing alcohol was a rather good move. Lowered inhibitions would make others more susceptible to the festival's effects. I'm unsure how that can be increased, as it generally requires consent to consume it and the flavor of it is incredibly hard to mask. That would require a bit more thinking behind it, I'm sorry to say."

He nodded. "Overall, to everything else looked rather wonderful up until the end. Your wife and those involved did very well with the aesthetics. Was a visual appeasement. I just wish this attack would not have happened, and not because of the obvious reasons. It's going to be impossible to figure out what the results of the festival had on them. People were attacked, adrenaline was formed like crazy, so of course people are going to want to have Intercourse to work thru it."

That did a lingering thought in his mind. Did Lana kiss him because of the increased adrenaline from fighting? Maybe he could figure that out once they set off.

"Maybe I'll come next year if I'm able to, just get another chance to properly study this event in its proper conditions."

He listened and took it all in. He seems intent and interested.

"The maze curiosity I can answer for you. It is a mixture of privacy and potential voyeurism. Some people find it exciting and arousing to be intimate in a place where they might be seen but probably won't. Some have likely performed overt sex acts in there, most just kisses or embraces."

"Otherwise, thank you for your insight. I'm certain it will be useful."

He stared at Zeno while explained to him the entire point of the maze, his eyes widening as he explained the true details of the maze. "I see. Well, not really see. Why..why do humans want to get caught, but not get caught?" That was a whole new one. Even the research material he had used for the swimsuits showed that people were more than willing to showcase their entire nude form for credits, but that at least allowed a complete sense of anonymity as they did it. "I suppose..if I think about it, it's that is adrenaline forming again. The rush of it. Just glad I decided not to attend that event. One wrong turn and I may have seen more than I ever wanted to."

He shrugged. "I hope it proves useful to you, all the same."

"I'm sure it will be helpful."

"Do the Chiss in general not appreciate the nude form?" Zeno asks curious.

"Artistically, of course we do." He said. "Personally, well, I couldn't say; we're all individuals, after all. It's just not to my preference to walk in on strangers and see those sort of things."

Zeno nods. "That makes sense. I have never cared one way or the other. Some bodies are more attractive to others, all of it is subjective, and I am not put off when I think about the fact that animals run around without clothing. So seeing a sudden nude person is about the same as seeing a sudden nerf."